Technology

IBM Watson and Johnson & Johnson will team up to create apps for consumers that will provide them with a virtual health coach. Tech giant Apple also will lend a hand in development of the apps, which will be marketed to hospitals and other healthcare organizations that will then offer them to patients, according to […]

You may be familiar with the name Robert Wachter, M.D. He’s written six books and hundreds of journal articles; he chairs the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; and he’s a leading advocate for patient safety. One health care magazine this year anointed him the nation’s most influential physician-executive. He’s perhaps […]

People who undergo a routine surgical procedure would much rather go online for their follow-up appointment than visit their doctor’s office. That’s the takeaway from a study done at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the results of which appear in the online version of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. [See also: Communicating […]

Online communication via a patient portal was a preferred follow-up method for surgery patients, according to research published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. For the study, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center surveyed 50 patients who underwent one of four “elective general surgical” procedures. Follow-up visits with each patient took […]

A pointer for connected health designers. An Australian study reviewing telemedicine virtual consults examined the technical factors that may influence clinical acceptance. It compared the quality of cellular (3G) connectivity with broadband fiber-based service during virtual visits. While overall clinicians rated the telemedicine visits highly–equivalent to or better than a home visit 76 percent of the time and conducting […]

In his new book, “The Patient Will See You Now,” Eric Topol envisions patients as partners in their own healthcare rather than petitioners to the medical establishment. Armed with smartphones equipped with apps to monitor vital signs and perform diagnostic tests, their reliance on physicians will diminish, he predicts, and doctors will generally assume a […]

School districts are taking a shine to telehealth, as evidenced by new projects in Texas and Georgia. In north Texas, the Children’s Health System of Dallas is expanding a pilot project launched two years ago in two pre-schools with the rollout of a telehealth platform in 57 schools across four counties. Funded by a Medicaid […]

CVS and three top telemedicine companies are working together to look at how to improve patient care. By working with American Well, Doctor on Demand and Teladoc, CVS Health hopes to examine how direct-to-consumer telehealth providers, retail pharmacy and retail clinic providers can partner up to improve care, according to an announcement. “As we examine […]

Increased use of remote medical consultations to improve healthcare for chronic disease and elderly patients, particularly as cost models shift in the industry, will fuel steady growth of the global home health technologies market, according to a new report. Efforts in the U.S., in particular, will boost the market, which will grow from $3.4 billion […]

Intensive care units across the country have seen a dramatic increase in business – but not the same increase in intensivist staffing or support. That makes the ICU an ideal target for telemedicine, if health system executives can figure out the right business plan. This infographic, from Eagle Telemedicine, takes a look at ICU issues […]